Not so fast: Renovations at Bonita Springs shopping plaza grind to a halt

JENNIFER LARINO

8:25 PM, Jun 28, 2009

Christine Evans of New Hampshire loads her car outside the Publix at the Bonita Springs shopping mall strip at the corner of Bonita Beach Road and U.S. 41. Part of the strip mall has undergone improvements, including a facelift of the exterior and upcoming changes to the parking lot.

Staff

Shoppes of Bonita rendering.

Submitted

BONITA SPRINGS - Sandy Gast opened up shop in the Center of Bonita Springs in 1988 when the shopping center was all new concrete and stucco.

After more than 20 years of business, the center at the northwest corner of U.S. 41 and Bonita Beach Road started to look its age with the parking lot full of potholes and wiry trees and storefronts that were "outdated," said Gast, owner of Jean Nicole Hair Salons Inc., in the center's west end.

"The original owners didn't put much into it," Gast said.

Then came Strathmore Development Co. The East Lansing, Mich.-based developer, which has had a presence in Southwest Florida for four years, bought the aging center for $41 million in November 2007 and unveiled a $10 million plan to revamp the Center of Bonita Springs not too long after.

"I was thrilled to death," Gast said.

The developer started structure improvements on Gast's side of the center last summer. In late December 2008, scaffolding was removed to reveal newly stuccoed storefronts painted in contemporary earth tones and new hurricane-film windows.

Then work stopped.

While half the center stood unfinished and many of the center's storefronts were empty, National City Bank filed a foreclosure suit in early March claiming the Center of Bonita Springs Partners LLC owed $38 million. The Center of Bonita Springs LLC is the owner of the center and has the same East Lansing address as the Strathmore Development Co.'s headquarters.

According to Lee County documents, National City Bank contends the company defaulted on loan payments in November and December 2008 as well as in January. The company also was delinquent on property taxes, records show.

The Lee County suit follows two February suits filed in Lansing, Mich., one by Capitol National Bank and the other by a lobbying firm, Governmental Consultant Services Inc. The separate suits contended that Strathmore Development Co. failed to pay more than $700,000 in service payments.

Strathmore President Scott Chapelle said in an e-mail interview that the suit brought on by National City Bank was because the project's "loan restructuring has taken longer than anticipated given the condition of the credit markets."

He said he expects that the restructuring will continue within 30 days.

Chapelle also said in an interview last week Strathmore had "to increase the size of the construction loan" for the project once it saw a need for additional improvements to the center.

Chapelle said Strathmore has met with Bonita Springs officials on several occasions about new concepts for the center, and is awaiting city approval on additions to the project and will pick up with improvements in 60 days.

Peter Haigis, a building inspector for the Bonita Springs Community Development Department, said the permits on record for the developer are four that were issued in 2008 for Center of Bonita Springs facade remodeling and more than 10 sign permits issued this year as tenants applied new signs to the remodeled storefronts.

No new building permit proposals are on record as of now, Haigis said.

The facelift will be completed by summer and "will be exactly what was intended," Chapelle said.

Bonita Springs Councilman Richard Ferreira, who shops at the center regularly, said he was "disappointed" by news of the foreclosure suit.

Ferreira said he's also wondering what will happen to 28 acres at the Bonita Beach Road and Interstate 75 interchange Strathmore purchased in 2005.

Chapelle declined to comment on that property.

A hotel, a 120,000-square-foot strip mall and six outlets were to be built on the land by the end of this year but construction has yet to begin. The company's Web site said that Strathmore is now pre-leasing for a third-quarter 2009 finish.

Ferreira said maintaining the areas along Bonita Beach Road is "critical" as it is one of the main corridors in Bonita Springs.

However the Lee County suit plays out, Ferreira said he is "hoping the receiver allows the money to finish" the Center of Bonita Springs shopping center.

Gast said she received notice of the lawsuit via certified mail on Thursday.

She said she doesn't think it will affect her everyday business but she's disappointed that the facelift will probably be put on hold for longer.

For now, Gast said she and her fellow business owners will "just pay rent to whoever and move on."